November 9, 2012 in GENRES
LINCOLN
RYAN: It’s Steven Spielberg’s latest masterpiece, Lincoln, and LBH, all of his movies are masterpieces… and this is typical of his films. But I’m really over his war movies. Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, War Horse; Amistad was also about slavery and now we have Lincoln. I’m not into history and war so this wasn’t that appealing to me. Still I learned a lot about the details behind the politics of the abolishment of slavery in this film.
ERIN: I’m not a big history or political person either. But like you, I did find this informative. I knew that he was the president to end slavery and it was during the civil war. But I didn’t realize the vote was so close and that he, himself, was so active in getting it passed. Things are so different today.
RYAN: Yeah, including the fashion!
ERIN: [laughs’ And air conditioning.
RYAN: It’s fascinating that back then, the republicans were the liberal party that cared more about equality than the democrats. That’s probably the biggest change in things over time.
ERIN: It is very strange.
RYAN: Also, religion didn’t seem to play into politics at all.
ERIN: I appreciated that. We’ve come so far away from what the founding fathers had planned for us.
RYAN: Yes. Now let’s talk about the movie. It’s almost two and a half hours long and for at least two hours I was bored out of my mind! Like, I had trouble paying attention to the film I was so bored.
ERIN: And the use of the language was so different back then, so I sometimes struggled following what they were saying. A couple moments I missed what they were trying to do completely.
RYAN: Right. You get the vibe of the scene but don’t really know what’s going on. We need Cliff’s Notes to this movie.
ERIN: Totally.
RYAN: I was literally thinking about things I’d rather be doing: the books I’d rather be reading, the shows on my DVR I have to watch. I was making lists in my head during this movie. And then I’d think, “Wait this is a Spielberg film… it should be riveting. Why is this so boring?”
ERIN: Well it’s two and a half hours long.
RYAN: Cloud Atlas is three hours and I wasn’t bored during that one. Granted I like science fiction more than history and war, but still. It’s not the length that’s the problem. I wasn’t in the mood for a history lesson.
ERIN: On the way out, I heard some people behind us saying they want to see it again.
RYAN: Yeah. It’s by no means a bad movie. It just didn’t interest me. There were some gems in the film that were truly engaging moments. Sally Field has a scene that could warrant an Oscar nom.
ERIN: I’m so glad to see her again.
RYAN: And she wasn’t playing Lincoln’s mother. She was playing his wife, even though she’s, like, 40 years older than Daniel Day-Lewis. Tommy Lee Jones is a scene stealer in this. But it’s a role that could have gone to Jack Nicholson.
ERIN: Yes!
RYAN: And Daniel Day-Lewis, once again. He’s the best. He’s the Meryl Streep of men.
ERIN: He was a great Lincoln. It surprised me. And not just the makeup which was great.
RYAN: His voice was amazing. If you compare his voice in this to his voice in Nine or There Will Be Blood, you’d swear that’s three different actors. It’s incredible how he transforms himself from the inside out.
ERIN: It was a really great cast.
RYAN: Lee Pace, who I love, from TV’s Pushing Daisies, is great to see on the big screen again. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in his fourth role of the year, thank you very much.
ERIN: He’s in everything. I liked James Spader in this.
RYAN: He’s great… and pudgy.
ERIN: [laughs’ I can’t believe how much weight he put on.
RYAN: It worked for the role.
ERIN: I think the movie could have been cut down a bit.
RYAN: I don’t know if it just needed to be more dramatic or what.
ERIN: It was very factual.
RYAN: It’s such a defining moment in not only American but in world history, I understand wanting to get it right; and it deserves the Spielberg treatment, but I just couldn’t have been more bored.
ERIN: [laughs’ I kept checking my watch.
RYAN: [laughs’ It’s so weird. I loved War Horse last year and most people didn’t. I think now I understand how everyone felt about Spielberg last year.
ERIN: Sometimes movies are dramatized and this had to have been somewhat but it did seem mostly straightforward history.
RYAN: Right. Maybe there will be a sequel.
ERIN: [laughs’ Right.
— BOTTOM LINE —
ERIN: Unless you’re a huge history buff, I wouldn’t tell my friends to go see this.
RYAN: The costumes and details are brillz and it’s on my Oscar watch, so it’s worth seeing for that and the performances. And, well, to see anything Spielberg does… boring or not!
— RATING —
Pat K. November 17, 2012
We saw Lincoln today ~ definitely agree with Ryan as far as you should see it. I thought it was a little long ~ we both thought it spent too much time on Amendment 13 & possibly could have done without so much of it even though it was the central topic. The cast is great ~ Oscar worthy! It was funny to see how different some of the cast looked in their role ~ some looked really old and/or several gained a lot of weight. The settings were very realistic & added to the story-line. The story was very informative ~ gave us a view of how different in some ways politics was then. It was surprising to see how a President could just mingle with people without a lot of security & how people could just walk in the White House whenever they wanted to. Everything seemed very realistic & that added to the interesting parts of the movie. Oh ya, the Republicans & Democrats were battling all the time! 🙂 See it ~ it's worth watching even if you rent it.
Ryan Jay November 17, 2012
I love your thought Pat! So glad you saw and enjoyed the film! I'm already looking forward to the Oscar nomination announcements on Jan 10th! I expect to see much love for this film!!